Garden Design for the Room to Improve Garden in Ashford

Feature Wall and Steel Sphere

Feature Wall and Steel Sphere Water Feature

We were delighted to have designed the garden at the recent home renovation project in Ashford on the Room to Improve TV show.     It turned out beautiful and really complimented the house.   For those of you who would like to know more about the garden we thought we would create this blog to give you a few more details.   The garden before renovations started was on a slope and contained mostly a lawn with some paving and was surrounded by mature hedging on three sides.    The slope gave us the opportunity to create some attractive terracing in the back garden.  We retained the mature hedging around the garden to maintain the privacy it gave to the rear garden and

Room To Improve Ashford Garden Design

Room To Improve Ashford Garden Design

to ensure a good backdrop to the new gardens.    The house and garden are set in an attractive rural setting with lovely views to the front of the house and we wanted to make sure that these views were retained.    

BACK GARDEN

The back garden was transformed into a gorgeous contemporary garden designed to complement the house and meet the requirements of the family.    We divided the garden into three different levels, the main patio wrapping around the house,  the

Room to Improve Ashford Garden

Room to Improve Ashford Garden

middle level patio and the lawn at the top-level.  The main materials used in the rear garden were porcelain paving complimented by oatmeal granite wall capping, steps and cobbles.  We created a wall at right angles to the house on one side of the garden, to hide the unexpected concrete block bike shed already built adjacent to the hedge on this side of the garden.    This also provided the opportunity to create some attractive features alongside this wall which was on full view from the feature windows of the house.    The features included an amazing steel sphere water feature which looks great during the day and when lit up at night.    

 

A built-in gas fire surrounded on two sides by a wooden bench is a great feature which we added to the 

Steel Sphere Water Feature at night

Steel Sphere Water Feature at night

patio adjacent to the house to allow the garden to be used on cooler summer evenings.   We also created a raised border just outside the feature window of the main living space to allow the placement of the gorgeous Butterfly Statue which can clearly be seen from within the house both during the day and in the evenings. 

There was a wonderful mature tree in the garden at the top-level which we emphasized within the design by surrounding it in a bed of gravel edged in oatmeal granite cobbles.  The cobbles continue around the lawn to emphasize the rectangular shapes of the lawn and ease lawn maintenance.     

The planting in the back garden included three feature Laurus lusitanica balls on a clear stem set against the feature wall adjacent to the water feature,  which together create a wonderful vista during the day or night.   Box hedging was used to frame the borders adjacent to the paving and to soften this, the other planting in this area  included, Roses, Crocosmia, Nepeta, Salvia, Asters, Sedum and Carex.  The planting

Butterfly Statue and Gas Fire Pit

Butterfly Statue and Gas Fire Pit

surrounding the lawn at the top-level included a feature japanese maple, Acer Sango Kaku plus a selection of shrubs such as Euonymus, Fushcia, Hydrangea, Spiraea and Weigela with some perennials, ferns and grasses including Geraniums, Helleborus and Liriope.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FRONT GARDEN

The front garden was kept very simple to allow the facade of the house with its wooden fins to be the main

Room to Improve Ashford Front Garden

Room to Improve Ashford Front Garden

feature.  The garden features a small patio directly outside the feature windows of the kitchen to allow for the clients to enjoy the lovely views out from this space.    This space is surrounded by planting which included a few structural box balls of three different sizes to hold the planting in the winter,  set in a bed of mediterranean planting including Lavender, Agapanthus, Erysium, Santolina, Cistus, Aubretia and Iberis.    The feature tree in this area is a Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’ which is also used in the raised bed running down this side of the house to create some screening of the side of the house.     

The rest of the front garden is divided into two areas, a path that runs from the roadside to the front door and across the front of the house,  which is finished in oatmeal granite paving.  There is also a large driveway for parking which is finished in the same oatmeal granite but using the smaller cobble size.  We set this at a 45 degree angle to the paths which together with the size of the cobbles versus the paving slabs, creates a textural difference between the path and the parking area and emphasizes the difference between the two areas.  The rest of the planting in the front garden included a portuguese laurel hedge across the front of the garden which it is intended should be maintained as a low hedge to allow the views out to the countryside to be enjoyed and long shrub border adjacent to the driveway which included varieties of Abelia, Ceanothus, Choisya, Diosma, Hebe, Pieris, Pittosporum, Sarcocoa, Skimmia and Viburnum.    

Room to Improve Ashford Garden

Room to Improve Ashford Garden

 

The whole garden, both front and back turned out really gorgeous and we think complimented this  ‘Room to Improve’  house beautifully.   Compliments have to go to DJ Landscaping who constructed the garden expertly following our design.  https://www.djlandscapes.ie/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gorgeous Garden Design…..Designed for Entertaining

Gorgeous Garden Design

Gorgeous Garden Design

This gorgeous garden design, which is located near Blackrock, Co Dublin transformed an existing old garden into a wonderful, soft and relaxing garden designed to complement the house and provide spaces for dining, BBQ’ing and relaxing with friends.    The design worked with an existing patio adjacent to the house and is based on two interlocking half circles which lead you down the garden to enjoy both the views of the garden itself and beautiful building behind.    

Feature Garden Aubergine Wall

Feature Garden Aubergine Wall

Two raised beds were built adjacent to the existing patio to frame the view’s out into the garden and to create a more enclosed feeling on the patio.  The patio was also enhanced by the limestone finish on the walls of the raised beds and a feature wall, painted a rich aubergine colour which has three feature pots set to its fore.   The raised beds wrap around on one side of the garden to link to another  new smaller granite patio adjacent to the  boundary where a BBQ is set snuggly within the raised beds, with space  in front to socialize comfortably with friends while BBQing.  

 A beautiful lawn, edged in mixed granite cobbles of oatmeal and silver, is a central feature within the garden.  It is linked to the a gravel finished fire pit area set at the end of the garden which is  accessed by a casual 

Suspended Garden Bench

Suspended Garden Bench

stepping stone path through the lawn. 

The  fire pit itself and the rear of the seat are made from grey limestone walling stone to match the raised beds adjacent to the patio and a wooden bench is suspended invisibly from the wall to provide casually seating by the fire pit.  This creates a wonderful feature which is both attractive to view from within the house and to enjoy when in the garden.    An attractive garden building is set into the north corner of the garden, partially camouflaged by planting and accessed via the fire pit area.    The garden is encircled by  planting which on maturity will create a lush backdrop with lots of variation in texture and colour to enhance the feeling of enclosure.       

 Beautifully designed by Garden Design Dublin and expertly constructed by Davidstown Landscaping. 

BBQ Area

BBQ Area

Gravel Fire Pit Area

Gravel Fire Pit Area

Garden Log Store

Garden Log Store

Small Garden Design

Amazing Small Garden Deisgn

Small Garden Design

Lawn with Stepping Stone Path

Lawn with Stepping Stone Path

 

This gorgeous but amazingly simple small garden design was completed this year for a garden in west Dublin and transformed a small unattractive space into a wonderful garden to be enjoyed all year around. The garden was quite small and an unusual shape at just over 10m at its longest by nearly 6m wide. The existing garden was finished in rough earth after works on an extension to the house had been completed and the garden needed a major upgrade to compliment the new extension.

The new design is based on a circular theme  with two overlapping circles interconnected to a semi-circular patio.    The design uses structure to create interest and also to soften the garden.  The patio is finished in tumbled yellow limestone, which adds to the softening effect and is complimented by yellow limestone cobbles which edge the lawn and patio.   

Interest is added to the small circular lawn with a stepping stone path which hugs the curve of the lawn and leads to a natural rock water feature set in a bed of Scottish cobbles near the end of the garden. 

Rock Water Feature

Rock Water Feature

 

 

 

The lawn and patio are surrounded by borders filled with plants which on maturity will fill the garden with colour and give the garden a feeling of enclosure.     All surrounding walls were plastered and painted white to reflect as much light as possible back into this lovely garden.

Garden Before New Garden Design

Garden Before New Garden Design

Family Garden Design in Dalkey, Co Dublin

Family Garden Design

Family Garden Design

This  garden design aimed to maximise the space in the centre of the garden for future children’s play space and equipment whilst at the same time softening the exterior of the garden and incorporating some nice features.   

The existing garden was mainly a large rectangular lawn with just a few trees and a new shed located in the corner of the garden.    We aimed to soften the edges by curving the flower beds and creating a number of features within the garden based on a circle theme.   

 

The old apple tree in the garden was nicely enhanced by encircling it beautifully in a ring of cobbles created

Pebble Design Around Old Apple Tree

Pebble Design Around Old Apple Tree

in a radiating pattern of  Scottish cobbles.    The other existing feature within the current garden which we wanted to retain was an old granite seat .  We  transformed  it into a lovely focal point, with a wooden chunky Pergola overhanging the existing seat and  the creation of two semi-circles of stone around the seat, the inner circle finished in Egyptian limestone and the outer circle in complementary  granite cobbles.  

A third circular feature was created at the end of  the garden where a  circular patio  with a difference  was created .  The patio was cut in a radial pattern from Egyptian limestone and mixed with two rings of oatmeal granite cobbles 069 (2)to give it an overall softer appearance.    This patio was then backed up by a low semi-circular wall made from granite to match the granite seat nearest the house.  

A new lawn starts off nearest the patio adjacent to the house and becomes softer nearer the end of the garden where it curves around the new circular patio and existing shed.   The paving material used in the existing patio was Egyptian limestone and we used this to link the patio to the  new semi circles of stone around the existing granite seat and then to lead down to the end of the garden to the new circular patio via a set of random stepping-stones.   We also use the complementary granite cobble to edge the lawn to help with overall maintenance.

Borders were created around the garden to allow planting to soften the boundaries.     The planting within

Old Granite Bench with Pergola

Old Granite Bench with Pergola

the design contains some lovely feature trees, including Japanese Maples and a selection of shrubs and perennials incorporating a good percentage of evergreen species to ensure that the garden is attractive in the winter.  The planting uses some lovely maroon / reddish tones both within the foliage colour and  in the flowers to match the decor in the main living areas of the house looking out over the garden.

Beautifully designed and planted by Garden Design Dublin and expertly constructed by Think Outside.ie